Carlo Rizzi
Carlo Rizzi was the first husband of Connie Corleone, portrayed by Gianni Russo. Biography A native of Nevada, Rizzi migrated to New York City following trouble with the law and became a friend of Sonny Corleone, through whom he met Sonny's sister Connie in 1941 at a surprise birthday party for Sonny's father Vito. They were married in 1945. Rizzi and the Corleones Rizzi was thrilled at the prestige of being a member of the Corleone crime family, but Vito, disappointed his daughter had chosen an unworthy criminal husband, instructed Tom Hagen not to allow Carlo significant knowledge of the family's workings, but to "give him a living". Bitter at being kept out of the family business and relegated to a bookmaking job and reported to Corleone's hitmen Willie Cicci, Carlo regularly beat up and cheated on Connie as a means of exerting his own power over the mighty Corleones. The Don tolerated this for unknown reasons (possibly to punish Connie for her poor choice in marry a Non-Sicilian or the fact that it is a moral code for Italian fathers not to interfere in his daughter's marriage what so ever), but Sonny had to be forcibly restrained and kept away from Rizzi to be prevented from taking action. Sonny visited Connie one day, and discovered his sister covered in bruises after a particularly bad beating. She begged him not to do anything about it, and he gave her his word. However, without the Don's calming influence he lost his temper and beat Rizzi mercilessly in the street and threatened to kill him if he ever hit Connie again. Afterward, Rizzi sought revenge by making a deal with the Corleones' rival Emilio Barzini to kill Sonny. Barzini's Scheme Rizzi set the plan in motion by setting up a call from one of his girlfriends, provoking Connie into an argument in which he beat her senseless. Connie called Sonny, who flew into a rage and set out to confront Rizzi. En route, Sonny was killed by Tattaglia's men in a hail of gunfire at a toll booth. Vito forbade any investigations into his son's death, and concluded on his own that the Barzini family was responsible. After his retirement, his youngest son Michael took over the family and brought Rizzi in as his 'right-hand man' for the planned family move to Nevada, treating him as a lieutenant for several years. While Rizzi thought that he was ascending to the top of the family, it was merely a ploy to make him vulnerable. Michael even stood as godfather to Rizzi and Connie's second child, at the same time as his massacre of the heads of the Five Families. When Michael finally confronted Rizzi, he assured Rizzi that, while he would be exiled from the family, his life would be spared, which satisfied Rizzi enough to confess his involvement with Barzini. When Rizzi got into his car to leave, however, he was violently garroted by Pete Clemenza. Connie was enraged upon learning what Michael had done, and resented him for some years afterward. However, by the end of the events of The Godfather: Part II in 1959, Connie appears to have either forgiven Michael's actions or realized their necessity, and once again pledged loyalty to her brother. Category: Corleones